There was a thing just now on the local news about Berwick which (in case any of you don't know) sits on the England-Scotland border. It's an English town but there's a lot of people there who increasingly want to move over to the Scottish side and are doing so for precisely the reasons I gave about the NHS and education. .

Isn't that the town that still's technically at war with Russia
I must admit I haven't got a strong opinion on Scottish independence. There must be some good economic arguments for keeping it in the Union but if the majority of Scots are in favour of independence (isn't there talk of a referendum?) then I think it should go it alone. It does irritate me though that Scottish MPs can vote on purely English matters in parliament but not vice versa.

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Originally posted by TheQuiet1
If any country in the UK could leave the Union most successfully it'd be England. Is it that we don't have that same sense of national pride that the rest of them do? Is it that we don't have that same sense of union (North-South divide, East-West split, Regional pride etc.)? Is it because the British Government has been based in London for donkey's years so it's easier for us to feel British as well as English

I agree the English don't seem to be as patriotic as a nation as the Scots, Welsh, Irish or most nations for that matter. It's almost as if we're embarrassed to show our support for our country. The only time we seem to do so is when we've got a fighting chance in a sports event like the World Cup when everywhere gets Union Jack fever until we lose It's interesting though that during the World cup there was all the hype about Scots routing for any side playing against England, (at least according to the papers) wheareas when a Scot is doing well such as Andrew Murray he seems to get support from the rest of the UK as well.

Excuse me, but it's a BRITISH parliament in London, not an English one - why oh why do so many people in the south especially keep on saying that? we have Scottish MP's down there 'cos that's where our major decisions are made!!!!

Westminster more or less controls Scotland, since the Scottish parliament doesn't do all that much really and it's also a complete waste of all the money&a rubbish building too

Isn't that the town that still's technically at war with Russia
I must admit I haven't got a strong opinion on Scottish independence. There must be some good economic arguments for keeping it in the Union but if the majority of Scots are in favour of independence (isn't there talk of a referendum?) then I think it should go it alone.

They signed a peace treaty a few years back. The Berwick mayor told the Russian official, "Please tell the Russian people that they can now sleep safely in their beds at night."

Scotland contributes trillions to the British economy (a huge amount for a nation of just 5 million) but I don't know how much it takes back out of the British economy so perhaps it balances out Scotland's big problem if it ever went it alone though would be as LJT says, those North Sea oil and gas reserves are quickly running out; cutting off a major source of revenue and it would be hard to maintain the UK lifestyle the Scots are accustomed to (the welfare system, the NHS and so on) without a truly large source of income.

Whatever happens it's certainly something the Government (British or Scottish) needs to bear in mind. We all know the devastating effect the collapse of industry had on many parts of the UK, and really these places are only just starting to get over it now, often by encouraging the growth of sunrise industries. If I think of Yorkshire as an example it's actually a major area for electronic media (a lot of British game developers are based here if Yorkshire Forward is to be believed at any rate!) but I don't know if Scotland has had that same zeal for sunrise industries if it's always had the oil and gas reserves to fall back on. Of-course, like Yorkshire, it's always got tourism to rake in the billions but that can only go so far and you don't want to end up like Cornwall where people are unemployed during the off-season.

I think I stopped making sense after the opening paragraph but do you know what I mean? From an outsider's point of view it seems Scotland is heavily reliant on a source of income that's quickly running out and they're going to have to come up with a new source of income for the future. There you go! I summed it up clearly in one sentence! Typical me after I've typed all this lot out!

Originally posted by susanp6
Westminster more or less controls Scotland, since the Scottish parliament doesn't do all that much really and it's also a complete waste of all the money&a rubbish building too

Oh! I have another question! (Sorry but as you're the only Scot here!) Do I take it you'd happily see it scrapped then? And do a lot of Scots share that view?

You are thinking of the right building Q1 yes! actually i always think it looks just like a school or a library, not the supposed great Scottish Parliament that cost almost 1 billion!!! so yeah that's 1 Scot buiding i'm not particularly proud of but hey! There's plenty others

You mean the Scottish parliament? Hmmm probably and i'm not quite sure as to wether a recent poll has been done on if we'd get rid of it, but i'm not too keen on it and i think most people up here do share the opinion that it doesn't do nearly enough but i could be talking rubbish

Originally posted by susanp6 Excuse me, but it's a BRITISH parliamen'''''''''''t in London, not an English one - why oh why do so many people in the south especially keep on saying that? we have Scottish MP's down there 'cos that's where our major decisions are made!!!!

Well I agree that's true for the vast majority of decisions made which obviously affect all the UK but when it's purely an English issue such as the introduction of uni tuition fees in England which wouldn't have got passed if the Scottish MPs hadn't been able to vote on it, then I don't think they should be able to on such occasions.

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[i]I think I stopped making sense after the opening paragraph but do you know what I mean? From an outsider's point of view it seems Scotland is heavily reliant on a source of income that's quickly running out and they're going to have to come up with a new source of income for the future. There you go! I summed it up clearly in one sentence! Typical me after I've typed all this lot out : [/B]

IT does make sense! I agree Scotland's ability to be economically self-reliant is the key issue. I wonder too what effect Blair's commitment to replace Trident will have on it.

Actually I will be in Scotland next Wednesday, Glasgow to be precise, I have a Medicine interview with the uni.

When the North Sea oil runs out I imagine the Scottish economy would model itself a bit on Irelands, attracting major corporations to base their operations there, such as the way Microsofts European headquarters are in Dublin.

Actually I will be in Scotland next Wednesday, Glasgow to be precise, I have a Medicine interview with the uni.

When the North Sea oil runs out I imagine the Scottish economy would model itself a bit on Irelands, attracting major corporations to base their operations there, such as the way Microsofts European headquarters are in Dublin.

I'm going good thanks. I'm trying to set up some voluntary work and waiting on some information on public service Apprenticeships to be sent to me. Plus thanks to the TV adverts, I've also discovered the Learn Direct website, which looks like it could be mighty useful I finally feel as if I can get all this to come together I might not just be getting some focus back in my life but also might just be working towards a career that I'll actually enjoy. (I'm being Positive Katie today )

Good luck with the chemistry exam and the uni interview I'm sure it'll go great (again, I'm being Positive Katie today )

About the Scottish economy I also wonder if it ever became independent maybe it could do very well out of EU subsidies. At the minute the UK is just behind Germany in terms of how much it contributes financially to the EU (which is fair enough as Germany and the UK are the biggest economies in the EU) so if Scotland left the EU it might just get a lot more EU funding...